Tag: #student

Posted on

Why We Do What We Do: Part II

 

Daily, a steady stream of student workers can be seen coming in and out of the Hunt Institute. They find creative ways to orchestrate meetings, stay connected with colleagues working remotely, and keep a positive attitude amidst a world that at times can feel turned upside down. Fanned out across the Institute’s main meeting area are carefully-positioned seating arrangements designed to facilitate the traditional “Town Hall” Monday Meeting while accommodating appropriate distancing and staying under the ten attendee limit. Seats are positioned in an effort to simulate a circle, including the students working remotely who attend the meeting via Zoom. Their faces can be seen on the TV mounted on the wall by the students seated in the Institute. 

The Assistant Director, Corrie Harris, leads the meeting with the Undergraduate Program Manager, Manuela Murillo Sanchez. The communications team recommended a discussion on the theme “Pushing Through” for the Fall semester. It was unanimous; everyone agreed it was the best way to describe the present circumstance of juggling the pursuit of normalcy and the pandemic. Mariana Midolo, the Creative Development Lead, said, “The hardships of this time right now affect us as a team. That is why we want to focus on pushing through together.” Cullen Blanchfield, the Communications Team Lead, chimed in and said, “I think this theme is effective on a societal level, but outside of that, on an Institute level we have obviously gone through a lot of changes with more changes to come for the team, which means we are definitely going to have to push through together.”

The group continued to discuss the impact of the phrase. Varsha Appaji, the Researchers Team Lead, said, “I think it is a really great theme and I am glad that we are doing it. I think it would be great to emphasize that a lot of our work has to do with sustainability and promoting societal equality and inclusion which definitely fits in with the times right now.” Heads nodded across the group.

Mohammed Njie, Undergraduate Researcher and Social Entrepreneur, said, “I think it is important to realize that here at the Institute we are involved in a lot of projects where we can impact the lives of a lot of different people. For their sake, it is very important that we push through… they are waiting for us.”  

Following the meeting, teams formed breakout sessions to plan their week, set priorities and goals, and brainstorm steps to push through together. 

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu

Posted on

Beta COVID-19 Relief Map

Map in Dallas COVID-19 relief map services to help with food, community services, shelter, and more

In Spring of this year, the Hunt Institute’s Map 4 Good project evolved into Map InDallas, an organizational expansion that included the addition of a stakeholder Advisory Committee led by Dr. Eva Csaky and implemented with the guidance of Dr. James Olivier. Weeks later, the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic shifted the focus to how best to use the existing plans and infrastructure to serve the Dallas community. The beta of the COVID Relief Map was launched by Map InDallas team in the middle of the Summer semester to stay true to the original goal of the project: connecting individuals in need to free service providers in the Dallas area. They continue to refine the data and help improve the categorization.

Various fellows, staff, and students have contributed to this project’s evolution but none have developed the map itself like Liam Lowsley-Williams, an undergraduate student working in web development and programming in the Hunt Institute and as a teacher’s assistant for the computer science department.

Regarding Liam’s motivation for this project, he said, “What drives my motivation is the fact that I can utilize my abilities in software engineering to make a beneficial impact on those who are suffering from COVID-19. We are certainly going through a rough time and I am proud to have the ability to do my part and give back.”

Focusing especially on the resources needed by the victims of the pandemic’s side effects, the aspiring beta COVID Relief Map seeks to helps users identify key service providers located near them like food pantries, community service locations, homeless shelters, and family counseling facilities. As the platform develops, users will be able to utilize a search function to navigate through the available resources or a filter function to limit the visible options to the specific service they are looking for. Once the user has located the service they would like to use, the COVID Relief Map will display an address and phone number to put clients in direct contact with the services they would like to use. It is projected all features of the COVID Relief Map will be functional by the end of the year.

While the map may have shifted slightly from its original conception, the team’s plans for the future remain the same. Aspiring upcoming digital features for the COVID Relief Map include search and sort based on eligibility criteria, turn by turn direction, and contact methods within the map itself. Additionally, the team is working on other mediums of the map to make it more accessible. It is currently available online, but the team hopes to have non-digital copies posted in strategic locations like public libraries and on mobile devices.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection

Image from Volcano Discovery

Peru is located in a seismic zone where the South American Plate moves toward the sea over the Nazca Plate causing earthquakes as a result of the thrust faulting on the interface of the two plates.  According to Volcano Discovery, Peru endured 81 quakes in May of 2020. With the exception of an occasional break in seismic energy, Peruvians live with earthquakes as a daily condition. Dr. Nicos Makris, Hunt Institute Fellow, has been leading a research team of collaborators and students at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering as well as internationally, to address this pressing issue. Their project in the Global Development Lab (GDL) focuses on seismic protection solutions for confined masonry urban housing. The in-country partner is Dr. Marcial Blondet who has dedicated over thirty years to researching the effects of seismic activity on masonry and adobe construction in Peru.

All projects in the GDL address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This effort directly targets SDG #11 which seeks to ensure that growth in housing and urban development is safe, equitable, and environmentally conscious. UN Target 11.5 highlights the importance of this effort as it sets the target to “significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters…with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations” (1). 

Kostas Kalfas (Ph.D. student and researcher), Corrie A. Harris (Portfolio Manager), JuliaGrace Walker (Undergraduate Project Manager), Sam Borton (Undergraduate Research Analysis), and Dr. Nicos Makris.

Even middle-class urban residents in Peru’s urban environment often reside in poorly constructed confined masonry houses which, in the case of a severe earthquakes, are at the risk of suffering serious damage. Professional construction is expensive and beyond reach for the majority of Peruvians. For this reason, the seismic protection market is increasingly narrowing its focus to low-cost solutions. One of the goals of this project has been to evaluate existing low-cost solutions accessible for most Peruvians (2). Finding that even “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most Peruvians, Dr. Makris makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical alternative for seismic protection, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. Makris’ emerging system of seismic protection could address the pressing need for affordable seismic protection of existing masonry structures.

Sam Borton, Hunt Institute Undergraduate Research Analyst, made a significant contribution to this post with his market analysis of low-cost seismic protection. The complete analysis will be released in a future post. Stay tuned to read more!

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

  1. About the Sustainable Development Goals – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
  2. Blondet, M., & Loaiza, C. (2020). Vulnerabilidad Sísmica de las Construcciones en el Perú: Informe Preliminar. Lecture presented in Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: Departamento de Ingeniería.
Posted on

Harshada Pednekar

Hershada Pednekar

Hershada PednekarHarshada Pednekar ’21 joined the Hunt Institute to work in GIS mapping and research in environmental engineering with a concentration in waste to energy. Before coming to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Lyle School of Engineering, Harshada had a professional career in India, most notably working as a Design Engineer at Indo-French company Mailhem-Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd. where she designed portable biogas plants and bio-methanation (UASB Reactor) plants, capacity ranging from 1000kg to100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.

When asked why she was drawn to the Hunt Institute, Harshada said, “I was attracted to the Institute when I heard about the “Waste to Energy” Project. Waste is not waste until we waste it. I believe that working at the Institute will support my aspirations for working in this field with a strong industrial interface that will keep me updated with the latest developments. This project is teaching me all the aspects of engineering, management, and finance.”

Harshada now has both a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Southern Methodist University’s Lyle School of Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from KIT’s College of Engineering in Kolhapur, MH, India. In addition to working in the Institute as a Graduate Research Analyst, Pednekar served as a Teaching Assistant in the Field & Lab Methods for Lyle School of Engineering. She was also an active member of the Lyle Senior Design Team that took First Place in the virtual Student Design Competition, sponsored by the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT).

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Hunt Institute’s First Student Social Entrepreneur

Mohammed Nije Trip

Janta EnergyThe Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Program is proud to introduce our first student social entrepreneur, Mohammed Njie. Mohammed is a rising senior at Southern Methodist University studying Electrical Engineering in Lyle School of Engineering. He was born and raised in The Gambia, a country in Western Africa. In the Gambia, 52% of people do not have access to electricity, and the remaining 48% have unreliable access. Mohammed attended high school at one of the few schools with electricity. Seeing students at other institutions that did not have access to electricity, motivated him to help close this gap.

Mohammed Nije Trip
A villager in Tintinto Village teaches Mohammed about life without reliable clean energy

Mohammed founded Janta Energy, a social enterprise, with the goal of bringing clean, reliable energy to The Gambia. His vision is to see all of Africa have access to reliable affordable clean energy in his lifetime. With support from the Hunt Institute, SMU’s Office of Engaged Learning, the Grand Challenge Scholars program, and the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, Mohammed initiated a pilot project on his last trip to The Gambia during the winter break in 2019. The project installed solar panels on a school rooftop in a rural area in The Gambia to test capacity and determine elements needed to enhance students’ academic experience.

Items Installed for the pilot project;

  • Five 330 Watt 24 volt solar panels.
  • Two 250 amp, 12-volt solar batteries.
  • A 50 amp solar charge controller.

After several months of usage, the report from the school administrators revealed that having access to electricity created many opportunities for this school and its students.

A library at a school in Tintinto village that now has electricity thanks to Janta Energy.
A library in the school in Tintinto Village now has electricity

According to their report, the school is currently only utilizing 30% of the installed capacity. With this excess capacity, they are in the process of introducing fans throughout the school. The estimated usage is expected to rise to approximately 70% capacity. The school plans to utilize the last 30% to install computers for student use, which will greatly enhance the possibilities for exploration and learning. Once the pilot project is completed, Janta Energy plans to use this concept to build a microgrid, with the school at the center, to help power the entire village. Looking ahead to the future, Janta Energy seeks to replicate the model used in Tintinto Village across other rural villages, eventually spanning the rest of the country.

Stay tuned for more updates from Mohammed, and his Janta Energy continues working to provide The Gambia with access to sustainable electricity. To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. Check the Hunt Institute Digest next week to meet another amazing social entrepreneur.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Rachel Levitt ’21

Rachel Levitt

Rachel Levitt is graduated from Southern Methodist University with an MBA in the Cox School of Business studying marketing and management, with a specialization in customer engagement. She served as President of Net Impact and as an MBA Ambassador, and also has membership with Women in Business, the Jewish Business Club, and the Marketing Club.

Rachel has been recognized as a Forte Fellow and as a member of the Cox Dean’s Circle.  In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hiking, and baking, specifically with Nutella.

Rachel says, “What drew me to working at the Hunt Institute was the opportunity to connect my studies at Cox with my passion for community involvement. One of the most fulfilling parts of my role as the Social Enterprise Program Lead is meeting so many like-minded individuals in the Dallas area who are committed to bettering our community and the world.”

At the Hunt Institute, Rachel was the Program Lead for the Social Enterprise Program where she works to address the key barriers faced by early stage social entrepreneurs, including capacity constraints and a need for strategic guidance, by connecting social entrepreneurs to critical resources. In addition to developing the program, Rachel contributes to the marketing strategy through the Hunt Institute Digest with weekly posts about key issues facing social entrepreneurs, highlighting social enterprises of note, or interviews of past and present members of the Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Cohorts.

After completing her MBA, Rachel has been working as a Search Engine Optimization Specialist at Mark Cuban Specialists.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Cullen Blanchfield ’21

Cullen Blanchfield

Cullen Blanchfield graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production with minors in Advertising and Arts Entrepreneurship. Cullen worked in the Hunt Institute as a the Undergraduate Creative Development Lead, functioning as the guardian of the Hunt Institute’s brand. He is an experienced film producer and has made dozens of videos for The Institute as well as various clients throughout Dallas and New York. Cullen has recently begun his career in the advertising industry.

Describing his motivation for working at the Institute, Cullen said, “I get to incorporate and build on my videography skills at the Hunt Institute through creating promotional videos for what we are working on with the Creative Team and the Institute as a whole. Being able to bring the Institute’s messages and events to life visually is crucial to spreading the word about who we are and what we are working on, and I’m very glad to be a part of that process.”

Cullen has been told that he sees things in people and in the world that others often overlook.  As a filmmaker, he strives to create films that connect with the viewer both mentally and emotionally through his keen awareness of people.  It is this ability that drives him to create impactful stories that can perhaps spark creativity and thoughtfulness from his viewers to create change.  It is his goal to elevate stories through the unique opportunities video presents both conceptually and technically.

 

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Scott Zuo

Scott Zuo

Scott Zuo is a junior at Southern Methodist University working toward a B.S. in Management Science and Statistics. He serves as a member of the SMU Statistics Club and as an active member of the American Statistics Association (ASA).

Scott has been recognized as a Distinguished Scholar and as a Discovery Scholar. After completing his undergraduate studies, Scott would like to go to a graduate school for further study in the field of statistics. In his free time, he enjoys movies, music, and basketball.

At the Hunt Institute, Scott’s skills in analytics and managing data have been utilized in his current role on the ImpactMap project where he has been appointed as Data Manager. This job includes managing data content and tools to make the ImpactMap more effective and useful, as well as researching best practices, and collecting, organizing, and evaluating data from various sources. Scott also works in the Global Development Lab as an Undergraduate Research Analyst. He has worked on the Moments that Matter Phase II project which will help business development and support providers nationwide to improve how they engage with women-veteran entrepreneurs.

Scott finds his motivation at work to be “all the potential benefits of the projects of our Institute as well as the way we approach every task by applying our knowledge and wisdom to achieve our goals, all of these have built up the components that motivate me to keep working for the Institute and makes me feel fulfilled.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

The Resilient Shelter Project: Phase I

Featured Video Play Icon

Resilient Shelter Project Icon

The Resilient Shelter project team is excited to announce the completion of its market analysis report titled Seeking Low-Cost Seismic Protection for Urban Masonry in an Unstable Terrain.  Phase I of the Resilient Shelter Project consisted of a market analysis of low-cost methods for seismic protection, specifically focusing on multi-story buildings in urban areas of developing countries. A prior blog post titled “Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection” explained more about the purpose behind the project.

With support from Marcial Blondet, Ph.D., Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and Ph.D. student Kostas Kalfas, Nicos Makris, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the Lyle School of Engineering, is working diligently to formulate a solution that is safe, accessible, and suitable for residents of multi-story urban housing. Dr. Makris, Affiliate supervising the work in the report said, “Part of our role as structural engineers is the design and construction of structures that are affordable to the local society and meet acceptable performance levels at present and the years to come without compromising the ability of future generations to use them, maintain them and benefit from them.” Undergraduate Research Analyst Sam Borton and Undergraduate Project Manager JuliaGrace Walker worked with Kalfas, Dr. Makris, and Dr. Blondet to examine the low-cost seismic protection market and produce a report with their findings.

Discussing his motivation for working on the project, Kalfas said, “It is my steadfast belief that we, as the more benefitted, should always give back to society and especially to those who are not as fortunate” and that the Resilient Shelter Project gave him “the opportunity to contribute directly to the people who need our help.”

In the report, Borton and Walker summarize the existing low-cost propositions and discuss to what extent these methods are feasible for the aforementioned target population in Peru. Finding that even these “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most of the middle-class residents of Lima, the report makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical seismic protection alternative, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. This emerging system of seismic protection could fill a gap in the market, as it may provide a sufficiently low-cost accessible manner of protecting multi-story buildings.

“After learning about the very real danger that earthquakes posed to certain Peruvian communities, as well as seismically-vulnerable communities around the globe, I was especially motivated to support Dr. Makris in this initiative,” said Borton.

As the report was finalized, the project encountered a delay brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting restrictions on international travel. It is the hope of the various collaborators on the Resilient Shelter project that progress on future phases will commence in the Spring of 2021.

Walker said of her experience with the project, “It has been exciting to work with a team that values and promotes cross-cultural and interdisciplinary relationships. I cannot wait to see what else the Resilient Shelter project can achieve.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

Posted on

Stephanie Rodriguez

Stephanie Rodriguez

Stephanie Rodriguez is a senior at Southern Methodist University working toward an BBA in Marketing with a minor in Advertising. She is also involved with the Women in Business and Mustang Mavericks organizations.

Stephanie has been recognized with the Honor Transfer Scholarship. After completing her undergraduate studies, Stephanie would like to stay in Dallas and work in a sports marketing field or find another related career that would allow her to travel all over the world. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys exploring Dallas, dancing, and working out.

At the Hunt Institute, Stephanie serves as a Marketing Assistant managing the digital marketing day-to-day campaigns and compiling analytical data to inform decisions for the communication’s team strategy.  She also helps to implement the communication for the marketing of events for the Institute, the Inclusive Economy Consortium, and project related events.

Stephanie says, “Being able to help spread awareness of these amazing projects my coworkers are working on through what I do inspires me to work harder for them.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.